Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 484,464 Shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG)

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Pure Storage, Inc. (NYSE:PSTG - Free Report) by 1.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 32,959,268 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 484,464 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 10.11% of Pure Storage worth $1,459,107,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PSTG. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 7,000 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $310,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 11.3% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 5,339 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $236,000 after acquiring an additional 542 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 7,327 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $324,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 121,895 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $5,396,000 after acquiring an additional 4,687 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pure Storage by 9.6% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 7,042 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $312,000 after acquiring an additional 616 shares in the last quarter. 83.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pure Storage news, insider Ajay Singh sold 22,601 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.45, for a total value of $1,253,225.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 261,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,498,234.25. This trade represents a 7.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John Francis Murphy sold 11,234 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.13, for a total value of $619,330.42. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 21,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,209,000.90. This represents a 33.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 446,794 shares of company stock valued at $26,641,913. Insiders own 5.60% of the company's stock.

Pure Storage Stock Performance

PSTG traded up $0.16 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $59.57. 2,481,634 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,715,861. The company's fifty day moving average price is $56.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.09. The company has a market cap of $19.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 161.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.45 and a beta of 1.07. Pure Storage, Inc. has a one year low of $34.51 and a one year high of $73.67.

Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The technology company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $778.49 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $770.03 million. Pure Storage had a return on equity of 13.98% and a net margin of 3.93%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.32 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Pure Storage, Inc. will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on PSTG shares. Barclays cut their target price on Pure Storage from $61.00 to $57.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Pure Storage from $40.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Pure Storage in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen raised Pure Storage from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Pure Storage from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Pure Storage currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $70.21.

Pure Storage Profile

Pure Storage, Inc engages in the provision of data storage and management technologies, products, and services in the United States and internationally. Its Purity software is shared across its products and provides enterprise-class data services, such as always-on data reduction, data protection, and encryption, as well as storage protocols, including block, file, and object.